TRAKTOR Error Message: "*filename* could not be played due to a missing or corrupt file...."

When loading a track into a TRAKTOR Deck, you might encounter the following error message flashing in the status bar at the bottom of the Browser: This is a generic error message which TRAKTOR displays when it is not possible to play the selected track. There is a number of different possible reasons for this, as already indicated in the message. In this article, we'll explain the possible causes and how to deal with them.

File is Missing

The file name and path of your imported music files are saved in both the Track Collection as well as the Metadata of the files. When you load a track from the Collection, TRAKTOR will try to load it based on this information. Examples:

Mac: Macintosh HD > Users > *Username* > Music > MySong.mp3

Windows: C: > Users > *Username* > Music > MySong.mp3

If you delete or move the file from it's original location after having imported it to the Track Collection, TRAKTOR will attempt to load a non-existing file from the saved path. TRAKTOR will indicate a missing file by displaying a yellow exclamation mark next to the track entry after the loading has failed. There are two ways to deal with this:

The file has been deleted and does not exist on the hard drive any more: Right-click on the file in the Browser and select Delete from Collection from the context menu. In the dialog-box, select delete from collection.

The File has been renamed or moved to another location on your hard drive: Right-click on the file in the Browser and select Relocate. Then navigate to the file on your hard drive, select it and click on Open to confirm. If you are not sure where to find the moved file on your hard drive, you can also select a folder or a hard drive in the filesystem and click Open to automatically scan the whole folder or hard drive for the file. If the folder or hard drive contains a lot of files, the process may take a while to complete.

Note: You can also relocate all missing files in your Track Collection at once. To learn more about this, read the chapter Relocating your Tracks in this article.

The File is Corrupted

If you are trying to load a corrupted audio file, TRAKTOR may abort the loading process and show the general loading error message in the Status Bar. A corrupt audio file is a file that has a certain type of missing or malformed information either in its metadata (ID3-tags) or in the actual music data. In order to learn how to detect and repair corrupted files, please read here.

File has an Unsupported Format

TRAKTOR supports the following file formats:

MP3

WAV1

AIFF

Audio-CD

FLAC

Ogg Vorbis

WMA2

AAC (also known as .M4A)

ALAC

If the file you are attempting to load has a format other than the ones listed above, then it will fail to play. Check the format of a file by right-clicking on it and selecting Properties from the context menu in the Windows Explorer or right- / ctrl-clicking on it and selecting Get Info from the context menu in the Mac OS Finder. There are many available tools on the Internet that allow for conversion from one filetype to another. You might find one that allows you to convert to a TRAKTOR supported format. We do not advice any tool in particular.

1WAV files in 24-/32-bit resolution downloaded via Bandcamp may not load instantly and require a quick supplementary treatment. Simply opening the respective file with the freeware Audacity and then shutting down the application without any further action resolves the issue.

2WMA support has been discontinued in TRAKTOR Pro 3.

File has a DRM-Protection

If a file of the type .WMA or .AAC fails to load and that file was purchased from an online vendor, the file might be subject to DRM- (Digital Rights Management) protection. DRM-protected files are encrypted to prevent copying, also playback may be restricted to certain applications such as iTunes or the Windows Media Player. Unfortunately, this encryption also prevents TRAKTOR from analyzing and playing the files. DRM-protected files can be downloaded from online stores such as the iTunes Store or Amazon among others. Please contact the publisher or vendor of your downloaded files in order to find out if DRM-protection is applied. We recommend purchasing unprotected audio files from online stores or importing tracks from Audio-CDs for use in TRAKTOR.